Misconstrued
by FriendLey
Summary: Pepper meets Peter Parker and mistakes him to be Tony's long lost son. One shot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any of its characters and lines from the movie used in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. I do not make any profits from it.**

 **A/N: Based on a tumblr post I made a while back. Figured I'd make a fanfic out of it.**

The door to the lab slid open and Pepper Potts walked in, curiously inspecting the room for any occupants.

"Tony?" She swore she saw someone in here as she was on her way to her office.

Someone suddenly popped up from behind a table. He was a wide-eyed young kid with a screwdriver in his mouth, a wrench in one hand, and his hair tussled to a point that could be considered quite attractive to girls his age.

"Oh, hi there." Tony didn't tell her he had a guest over. Certainly not a teenager who… she cocked her head to the side, studying him… come to think of it, looked not unlike Tony Stark when he was working in the workshop.

Interesting.

With a "Mrs. Potts!" the kid's jaw opened and the screwdriver fell with a loud clang. He winced but went on, "I mean Miss Potts! Cause you're not a character from Beauty and the Beast. And you certainly don't look like a teapot." He nervously tapped the wrench on the table. "I'm sorry. Can I start over?"

Pepper didn't know whether to laugh in amusement or in pity. The kid certainly looked ready to drop in embarrassment.

Thankfully, she was saved from giving a response when Tony came in from another door.

"Oh, hey, honey!" He walked towards her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Tony, who is this?" she asked, motioning to the teenager. "Someone I need to know?" She had a feeling she knew what his answer would be.

"Him? Oh, right. Pepper, meet the kid. Kid, this is Pepper."

Peter waved. "Hi. I'm Peter… Parker. Like he said, I'm the kid. His kid. Or mentee. Or protégé."

It was a testament to the strength of their relationship that Pepper wasn't the least bit fazed by the discovery that Tony had a long lost son.

She turned to Tony and only smiled in resignation. "You did it, didn't you? Of course. Why am I not surprised?" She turned to Peter. "Well, I hope you don't have his penchant for attracting trouble, Peter."

Peter shifted nervously and seemed to be avoiding her eye. "Well, er…" He looked at Tony for help.

Pepper chalked his behavior off to nerves. "It's very nice to meet you, Peter. Tony, has Legal seen him?"

"He's sort of hush hush."

Pepper frowned disapprovingly. "Tony!"

"What? We can't let the public know who he is."

Peter's eyes widened. Certainly Mrs. Potts—he meant Miss Potts—wouldn't reveal his identity! He rushed to Mr. Stark's side all the while saying, "Please, Ms. Potts, you can't tell them."

"I'm sorry, Peter. There have been a lot of false claims before, all a ruse to get money. For the safety of the company and of Tony as well, I have to let Legal handle this. Secretly, of course."

Peter shook his head. "I don't want any money. Not that it would hurt to have some money. But… Hold on a second. There are people out there claiming that they're me?" How many Spider-Man hoaxes were there and could he make money off of that?

"Yep. That's why Legal needs proof that you are who you say you are. This means we're gonna need some blood samples for a DNA test." She also addressed the last one to Tony.

Tony folded his arms and firmly said, "No! He's not an experiment."

Peter nodded, agreeing. "I was actually an accident. In a lab. On a field trip. "

Pepper cringed. "Okay. I do not need to know the specifics." Just because she was fine with Tony having a son didn't mean she wanted to know how Peter was conceived. She sighed. "Tony, I can't run a paternity test if I don't have all the variables."

Tony did a double take and so did Peter. "Paternity test? Wait. You think he's mine?"

"Oh!" exclaimed Peter, looking from Miss Potts to Mr. Stark and then back to Miss Potts. "Mr. Stark's not my– He's not my–"

"We're not– I'm just mentoring him."

"I have parents. _Had_ parents. They died but I have an aunt."

"Jeez, Potts. I can't believe you'd think that. Well, I guess it's not so outlandish. I mean, I _did_ have a sordid past. And given Peter's age, his above average intelligence–"

"Mr. Stark, sure, yeah he's like a father figure. But I'm not his son."

Miss Potts was a shade of red at having jumped to such a conclusion and she stammered an apology. "Oh, I'm so sorry! It's just that working with Tony and taking care of his past girlfriends have made me quite prepared for the possibility that he has a child out there somewhere and will one day show up. So I just assumed…"

"Well, you were bound to be wrong once," said Tony, grinning in amusement.

Pepper groaned inwardly. He was never gonna let her live this down.

He tugged her by the arm. "Don't feel bad. I kind of think it's great we're talking about this. I mean, now I know you're okay with having kids. Even if they're not yours."

Pepper pulled her hand away and scolded him, "Don't start." She turned to Peter. "But what was all that talk about you being an accident during a field trip?"

Peter reviewed what he had previously said and realized how that certain sentence could have been misconstrued. He turned the same shade as Pepper's hair. "Oh!"

Tony put an arm around his girlfriend. "Honey, have you ever heard of Spider-Man?"

 **A/N: I need Pepper and Peter interaction.**


End file.
